I wasn't gonna post this, but I've had a beer or two and I've decided that it's one of the dumbest, most infuriating things I've ever heard. So naturally, I had to relay the information. Let us begin with a story. It is a tale of love, loss, and dreams of what might have been. (Trust me, it's worth seeing it through to the end)

Many years ago, there was a young boy who lived in the poor side of town. He was the son of a painter, and his family did what they could to get by. This man was also my grandfather, the one who recently passed away, and it was during this time that he was moulded into the man he would eventually become.

Through attending the single-room schoolhouse in the town in which he was raised, he met a young girl named Carlina. Unlike my grandfather, Carlina's family hailed from a great deal of wealth and prosperity. But being kids, neither my grandfather nor Carlina cared about this trivial difference, and they became fast friends. They often played in the fields near their town, and sought to catch frogs in the flowing streams. However, while their friendship blossomed, so did their families' disapproval of the young, innocent friendship. My grandfather's parents were uneasy about their son mingling with someone of privilege (I suppose it made them feel inferior), and Carlina's parents disapproved of their daughter becoming so chummy with a miscreant who was the son of a simple painter. Soon, as the young couple entered their late teens, they were forced apart by their respective families and out of one anothers' lives. Wishing to escape the heartbreak of losing his childhood love, my grandfather saught to remedy his damaged ego by joining the Navy. And so, he sailed off to distant shores to begin life anew; leaving his old and disappointing life far behind. But no matter where he sailed, and no matter how high he climbed upon the ladder of success, he could not escape his sordid past. He drank to excess, and very often became violent with those around him - including an incident in which he attempted to kill a man with a samurai sword he (allegedly) stole from the corpse of a Japanese soldier. His troubles mounted, and he had ever-more violent run-ins with the law. Soon, he hit rock bottom and realized that he had to get his life back on track. Using his military background to his advantage, he made a position for himself working at the Pentagon (look it up if you're not from the U.S.), where he eventually met my grandmother. She fell head over heels with him, and he for her.

But what my grandmother couldn't have known was that my grandfather retained an immense amount of resentment for the fact that he had had his previous love, Carlina, taken away from him so abruptly and unfairly. With his anger leading the way, he took my grandmother into his life; not for love, but to get back some sense of control which he felt had been taken away from him at such an early age. She was a woman who bowed to his every whim, and he relished her as such.

One day, as my grandfather was making his usual rounds about the Pentagon, he was approached by one of his assistants who claimed that a woman was there to see him. As he entered his office, he saw none other than his long-lost Carlina; clad in a red dress and bearing an empty ring finger. She had saved herself for him after all these years, and now that her parents had long-since deceased and she had finally tracked him down, she was ready to spend the rest of her life with him. But my grandfather was a loyal man, and as hard as it was for him to do, he had to reject her offer; choosing instead to remain faithful to his new love - my grandmother. Carlina left the Pentagon that day; heartbroken from the loss of what she had strived for so many years to regain. In her anguish, she ran off to Paris where she slowly poisoned herself with various debaucheries until, as she specified in one last letter to my grandfather, she finally took her own life. In an angry outlash which was rooted in his own heartbreak, my grandfather made it known to my grandmother that he had permanently lost the love of his life because of his loyalty to her.

The story is tragic, and in some ways, one might even sympathize with my grandfather and his plight. The only problem?

It never fucking happened. At least, not the more significant parts. My grandfather did fall in love with a young girl, and they were ripped apart by an outdated sense of social hierarchy. He really did retreat to foreign soil and he really did lash out in violent acts of attempted homicide. He really did meet my grandmother at the Pentagon and he really did marry her out of an egotistical sense of self-righteousness. But as for reuniting with a long-lost love and valiantly choosing loyalty over self-fulfillment; it never occured. As for Carlina's tragic and self-inflicted end, as far as anyone knows, she is still very much alive and well.

For whatever reason - a reason he took directly to his grave - my grandfather built his life into a harrowing tale of two star-crossed lovers who's fate was sealed by the edition of one single plot component: my grandmother. The man's arrogance was beyond measure, and he convinced his wife that he had chosen her over his childhood love; a decision which he claimed resulted in Carlina's death. Maybe he resented her for some reason. Maybe it simply made him feel powerful to have her under his complete control. Whatever his reasons; my grandmother is sitting in her house tonight - whenever you happen to be reading this - crying her eyes out because not only will my grandfather surely choose Carlina when he is "resurrected into the New System of things", but also out of a sense of guilt regarding Carlina's grief-stricken suicide - which time discrepancies and anual love-letters prove never even fucking happened.

All of this is just coming to light, so you'll have to forgive me if the details are a little jumbled (even lacking). What's more, much of what is being said comes from family rumor; having been pulled out from underneath the proverbial carpet, bit by bit, slowly being exposed for all to see (I don't know why families can't just be fucking honest about their demons). But I know the kind of man my grandfather was. I also know stories from multiple family members, and while they differ in the minor details, they corroborate each other on the whole. In all likelihood, none of us will ever know the full, legitimate details of the story by simply playing detective, and the only man who could have ever clarified anything is sealed in a concrete vault overlooking the pristine waters of a mountain lake. But what we know for sure is that many details have been exhaggerated; some never actually occured at all; and because of those fabrications, right now, somewhere in a dark, empty house, a grief-striken widow is crying for nothing.

(17-02-2013 10:52 PM)Misanthropik Wrote: I wasn't gonna post this, but I've had a beer or two and I've decided that it's one of the dumbest, most infuriating things I've ever heard. So naturally, I had to relay the information. Let us begin with a story. It is a tale of love, loss, and dreams of what might have been. (Trust me, it's worth seeing it through to the end)

Many years ago, there was a young boy who lived in the poor side of town. He was the son of a painter, and his family did what they could to get by. This man was also my grandfather, the one who recently passed away, and it was during this time that he was moulded into the man he would eventually become.

Through attending the single-room schoolhouse in the town in which he was raised, he met a young girl named Carlina. Unlike my grandfather, Carlina's family hailed from a great deal of wealth and prosperity. But being kids, neither my grandfather nor Carlina cared about this trivial difference, and they became fast friends. They often played in the fields near their town, and sought to catch frogs in the flowing streams. However, while their friendship blossomed, so did their families' disapproval of the young, innocent friendship. My grandfather's parents were uneasy about their son mingling with someone of privilege (I suppose it made them feel inferior), and Carlina's parents disapproved of their daughter becoming so chummy with a miscreant who was the son of a simple painter. Soon, as the young couple entered their late teens, they were forced apart by their respective families and out of one anothers' lives. Wishing to escape the heartbreak of losing his childhood love, my grandfather saught to remedy his damaged ego by joining the Navy. And so, he sailed off to distant shores to begin life anew; leaving his old and disappointing life far behind. But no matter where he sailed, and no matter how high he climbed upon the ladder of success, he could not escape his sordid past. He drank to excess, and very often became violent with those around him - including an incident in which he attempted to kill a man with a samurai sword he (allegedly) stole from the corpse of a Japanese soldier. His troubles mounted, and he had ever-more violent run-ins with the law. Soon, he hit rock bottom and realized that he had to get his life back on track. Using his military background to his advantage, he made a position for himself working at the Pentagon (look it up if you're not from the U.S.), where he eventually met my grandmother. She fell head over heels with him, and he for her.

But what my grandmother couldn't have known was that my grandfather retained an immense amount of resentment for the fact that he had had his previous love, Carlina, taken away from him so abruptly and unfairly. With his anger leading the way, he took my grandmother into his life; not for love, but to get back some sense of control which he felt had been taken away from him at such an early age. She was a woman who bowed to his every whim, and he relished her as such.

One day, as my grandfather was making his usual rounds about the Pentagon, he was approached by one of his assistants who claimed that a woman was there to see him. As he entered his office, he saw none other than his long-lost Carlina; clad in a red dress and bearing an empty ring finger. She had saved herself for him after all these years, and now that her parents had long-since deceased and she had finally tracked him down, she was ready to spend the rest of her life with him. But my grandfather was a loyal man, and as hard as it was for him to do, he had to reject her offer; choosing instead to remain faithful to his new love - my grandmother. Carlina left the Pentagon that day; heartbroken from the loss of what she had strived for so many years to regain. In her anguish, she ran off to Paris where she slowly poisoned herself with various debaucheries until, as she specified in one last letter to my grandfather, she finally took her own life. In an angry outlash which was rooted in his own heartbreak, my grandfather made it known to my grandmother that he had permanently lost the love of his life because of his loyalty to her.

The story is tragic, and in some ways, one might even sympathize with my grandfather and his plight. The only problem?

It never fucking happened. At least, not the more significant parts. My grandfather did fall in love with a young girl, and they were ripped apart by an outdated sense of social hierarchy. He really did retreat to foreign soil and he really did lash out in violent acts of attempted homicide. He really did meet my grandmother at the Pentagon and he really did marry her out of an egotistical sense of self-righteousness. But as for reuniting with a long-lost love and valiantly choosing loyalty over self-fulfillment; it never occured. As for Carlina's tragic and self-inflicted end, as far as anyone knows, she is still very much alive and well.

For whatever reason - a reason he took directly to his grave - my grandfather built his life into a harrowing tale of two star-crossed lovers who's fate was sealed by the edition of one single plot component: my grandmother. The man's arrogance was beyond measure, and he convinced his wife that he had chosen her over his childhood love; a decision which he claimed resulted in Carlina's death. Maybe he resented her for some reason. Maybe it simply made him feel powerful to have her under his complete control. Whatever his reasons; my grandmother is sitting in her house tonight - whenever you happen to be reading this - crying her eyes out because not only will my grandfather surely choose Carlina when he is "resurrected into the New System of things", but also out of a sense of guilt regarding Carlina's grief-stricken suicide - which time discrepancies and anual love-letters prove never even fucking happened.

All of this is just coming to light, so you'll have to forgive me if the details are a little jumbled (even lacking). What's more, much of what is being said comes from family rumor; having been pulled out from underneath the proverbial carpet, bit by bit, slowly being exposed for all to see (I don't know why families can't just be fucking honest about their demons). But I know the kind of man my grandfather was. I also know stories from multiple family members, and while they differ in the minor details, they corroborate each other on the whole. In all likelihood, none of us will ever know the full, legitimate details of the story by simply playing detective, and the only man who could have ever clarified anything is sealed in a concrete vault overlooking the pristine waters of a mountain lake. But what we know for sure is that many details have been exhaggerated; some never actually occured at all; and because of those fabrications, right now, somewhere in a dark, empty house, a grief-striken widow is crying for nothing.

Your story reminds me of my grampy who decided never to join the witnesses yet introduced them to that faith, and then held it over the whole family's head till his death.

Shit, your family should meet my family. FUBAR is the best fitting term I have come up with do date as a description for my family. Not to pit them against each other or anything like that; it's just that they're so ALIKE.

Wow, in many ways this parallels my own life. My maternal grandfather also grew up poor, lost a girl and "settled" on my grandmother after sailing the seas in the Navy and eventually wound up working for the government. He is now deceased, and despite his many, many faults (I will spare the details, but they are certainly dark), the secrets which he hid for many decades and secrets which I should have never found out (and regret finding out.) It is uncanny, I mean, I am kind of blown away at the similarities between us. Maybe we are long lost cousins? As for my dads side, it is much more bland, but it the best possible way.

(17-02-2013 11:26 PM)Dark Light Wrote: Wow, in many ways this parallels my own life. My maternal grandfather also grew up poor, lost a girl and "settled" on my grandmother after sailing the seas in the Navy and eventually wound up working for the government. He is now deceased, and despite his many, many faults (I will spare the details, but they are certainly dark), the secrets which he hid for many decades and secrets which I should have never found out (and regret finding out.) It is uncanny, I mean, I am kind of blown away at the similarities between us. Maybe we are long lost cousins? As for my dads side, it is much more bland, but it the best possible way.

I wouldn't be all that surprised. I've got cousins I've never met. lol

(17-02-2013 11:26 PM)Dark Light Wrote: Wow, in many ways this parallels my own life. My maternal grandfather also grew up poor, lost a girl and "settled" on my grandmother after sailing the seas in the Navy and eventually wound up working for the government. He is now deceased, and despite his many, many faults (I will spare the details, but they are certainly dark), the secrets which he hid for many decades and secrets which I should have never found out (and regret finding out.) It is uncanny, I mean, I am kind of blown away at the similarities between us. Maybe we are long lost cousins? As for my dads side, it is much more bland, but it the best possible way.

I wouldn't be all that surprised. I've got cousins I've never met. lol

That makes two of us. Got plenty of half-cousins in Texas I've never met from my grandpa that I know of and I have reason to believe that there are more out there.